Another U.S. Humane Society undercover investigation reveals 'loophole' in ban on downer cattle

"Downer" cow was mistreated. Photo: Humane Society of the United States

Following release of an investigative video report by the Humane Society of the United States in February that depicted inhumane treatment of sick and 'downer' cattle at a processing facility in California, the USDA announced in May that it would implement a ban on the slaughter for human consumption of cattle unable to stand and walk unassisted.

On Wednesday, the Humane Society released another investigative report showing sick or severely injured cows being dragged and shocked in order to move them into the auction ring at the Portales Livestock Auction in Portales, New Mexico.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Human Society, said their investigator was working at the Portales auction house when he shot video on separate weekends in May. The investigator said he witnessed three sick and abused cows sold to buyers at the auction.

When asked, Pacelle said the Humane Society had not tracked where the dairy cows were sent for processing and could not say for certain that they would be processed for consumption or if they would end up in export markets. He said the mission of the Human Society is to prevent cruelty to animals, but that the issues of animal cruelty and food safety can not be isolated in these cases.

A USDA spokeswoman said she didn’t yet have an indication if the USDA would investigate the sale of the downer cattle videotaped at the auction.

Humane Society investigators have gone undercover at six locations in five states – the now-shuttered Hallmark/Westland slaughter plant in Chino, Calif., and five livestock auctions, including the one in Portales, New Mexico.

"No longer can anyone in government or industry reasonably claim that the abuses we documented at Hallmark were an aberration or an isolated case," said Pacelle. "This gross mistreatment of spent dairy cows should turn your stomach, and they have been uncovered in location after location."

The investigative video report released by the Humane Society in February of this year depicted inhumane treatment of sick and 'downer' animals at a processing facility that was the second largest supplier of ground beef to U.S. public schools.

According to USDA data, downed cattle are 58 times more likely to carry mad cow disease than other cattle. Downed cattle also are more likely to carry other food-borne illnesses like E. coli and Salmonella.

Before making its report public, the Human Society met with Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer to brief him on the latest abuses and renew its position that the USDA immediately implement a clearly defined rule prohibiting the processing of any downed cattle for food.

The Human Society also urged the USDA to extend the prohibition on downers to the 1,200-plus livestock markets and auctions that operate around the nation, and require that operators of those facilities and slaughter plants immediately humanely euthanize downer cattle upon identifying them in a non-ambulatory state. During the time covered by the investigation, New Mexico brand inspectors were present at the auctions and apparently witnessed the abuse, according to Pacelle. The Humane Society also provided information on the investigation to the New Mexico Livestock Board as well as to national industry leaders.

"The abuses of these suffering creatures must be stopped, to protect both animal welfare and food safety" Pacelle said. Several members of Congress have expressed concern over the situation in recent weeks and urged the USDA to move quickly on regulatory changes.

In a May 23 letter to Schafer, four Congress members called it:

“Unworkable and reckless to rely on inspectors being summoned back by slaughter facility workers to re-evaluate downers on a case-by-case basis. Even if workers comply (as they clearly did not at the Hallmark slaughter facility featured in the recent undercover investigation that shocked the nation), determining why an animal is non-ambulatory is challenging if not impossible for inspectors because injury and illness are often interrelated – a broken leg may simply be the observable result of the weakness, abnormal gait, or disorientation associated with an underlying disease. At least three of the documented cases of BSE in North America were identified as downers due to injury, not illness, showing how difficult it is for inspectors to reliably sort out which non-ambulatory animals are “safe.”’

-- Reps. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y.; Christopher Smith, R-N.J.; Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.; and Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., asked the USDA to close the downer loophole immediately, May 23, 2008

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, chair of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, issued a separate statement following release of the Humane Society's third investigative report.